This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on May 7, 2019

PUTRAJAYA: In a move that will likely escalate tensions between the Johor palace and the Pakatan Harapan administration, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has slammed the Crown Prince of Johor, Tunku Mahkota Johor Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim, as “stupid”.

He was speaking during a special press conference that was held ahead of the government’s upcoming first anniversary, when asked to comment on the prince’s recent complaint that his father’s good deeds had been ignored.

“I don’t want to comment on the [Johor] Sultan because if I say anything that is not good, maybe it is not nice because he is the Sultan. But this TMJ (Tunku Mahkota Johor) is a little boy. He is stupid because he doesn’t know what is happening. So, don’t talk lah. When you don’t know anything, don’t talk,” Dr Mahathir said.

In a series of tweets last Saturday, TMJ claimed that the Johor royal family had been been unfairly criticised over the Johor Baru-Singapore rapid transit system (RTS) project, and that many of the Johor Sultan’s noble deeds had not been brought to the attention of the public. His comments came following reports that a piece of land in Bukit Chagar, which the federal government was supposed to own, is in the Johor Sultan’s name. It was also reported that the cost of the proposed RTS had increased due to compensation for the land.

That same day, the sultan, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, said he was willing to hand over the plot to the government without any cost if it was involved in the RTS.

The sultan’s announcement came a day after Dr Mahathir commented that the government would try to reclaim the land before considering to buy it for the RTS. The relationship between Dr Mahathir and the Johor palace has not been friendly since the premier pushed forth a constitutional amendment in the 1990s to strip the rulers of their immunity from criminal prosecution.

Prior to his comments on the prince, Dr Mahathir also denied that the government, under his leadership, has relationship problems with the royalties, in particular the Johor Sultan.

“No, I don’t see anything (problems) because I went to see him (the Johor Sultan), and he drove me to the airport,” he told reporters yesterday, referring to the time when Sultan Ibrahim drove him to the Senai International Airport in a classic Proton Saga after Dr Mahathir had an audience with the ruler at Istana Bukit Serene in January this year.